Quick and Easy Skillet Enchiladas – Ready in 25 minutes!

Skillet Enchiladas is a quick and easy meal you can have on the table in just about 25 minutes! Tortillas are filled with chicken, beans and cheese then smothered in enchilada sauce and even more cheese makes a perfect Tex-Mex skillet recipe.

Even better, this easy recipe dirties up only one pan and can even be made over a campfire!

Why you need to make these Skillet Enchiladas

Can I just say the entire family went crazy for these! 

• You’ll love is how easy they are to put together – whether you’re camping or just trying to make a quick dinner that everyone will eat. 
• By using pre-cooked chicken, canned enchilada sauce and pre-shredded cheese, these skillet enchiladas come together in just about 25 minutes.  (Of course, you could also make everything from scratch if that’s the way you like to do it.)
• If you are watching your carbs, you can even use your favorite low carb whole wheat tortillas for a low carb skillet enchilada meal!

Quick and Easy Skillet Enchiladas

Since the weather was mild this past fall, and we squeezed in a few extra weekend camping trips. When it comes to grocery shopping/meal planning and packing food for our camping trips I have the routine down. I make a list/meal plan, order groceries online, and have them delivered to save myself a trip. 

A typical camping meal plan for us is on the firs night we cook all the proteins – grilling burgers and a few pounds of chicken fajita meat. We use that as the protein for our lunches and dinners throughout the weekend. We mostly use the chicken in all sorts of ways – salads, soft tacos, quesadillas, and Skillet Enchiladas. 

Depending on the size skillet you you use, you could squeeze in anywhere from 7 to 12-ish enchiladas, so I have left the ingredient amounts on the vague side. Just use what you have and squeeze as many enchiladas as you can into the pan. (I got 7 enchiladas into my 8-inch pan.)

To give the skillet enchiladas a go, add these ingredients to your shopping list:

Ingredients

• Tortillas | Use whatever tortilla variety you prefer. Corn tortillas will be less soggy, but flour ones just taste so good! You can even use low carb tortillas.
• Refried beans | Beans are optional, I just like to add a spoonful to each enchilada to give it a bit more substance.
• 1 to 2 cups Pre-cooked chicken, shredded | Rotisserie is great for this, I also like to use my pressure cooked chicken. You can use canned chicken as well, just rinse it first for better results. 
• 1 to 2 cups Cheese, grated – I prefer to use a Colby/Monterey/cheddar blend, but just about any cheese you like is fine.
• 1 can enchilada sauce | Tip: to speed up the cooking of the skillet enchiladas, it helps to pre-warm the enchilada sauce.
• optional toppings: sour cream, green onions, guacamole, jalapenos, cilantro, etc

How to Make this Enchilada Skillet

1. Grease bottom of skillet.  (or use a quarter cup of enchilada sauce)
2. Spread refried beans on tortilla, add a couple spoonfuls of shredded chicken and cheese.  Roll up tortilla and place into skillet seam side down.
3. Continue filling tortillas until the pan is full.
4. Add as much enchilada sauce as you want and top with a generous amount of cheese.
5. Cover and heat on medium-low (or low heat area of the campfire) until the cheese is completely melted and enchiladas are heated all the way through.

Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Look at all that cheese…  Enchilada sauce + cheese is the best combination in my book!

Don’t have any precooked chicken to make this enchilada skillet with? That is ok! You can quickly poach a chicken breast or two right in the microwave!

How To Cook Chicken In The Microwave.

1. Place chicken in the bottom of a pyrex dish (make sure the dish is not so big it will interfere with the rotating plate in your microwave.) and add enough water to mostly cover the chicken and cover with plastic wrap.  (If your chicken pieces are huge, I recommend cutting them up into even size pieces.)
2. Cook the chicken on high for about 11 minutes.  (11 minutes does cook 4 huge chicken breast [cut into smaller pieces] in my 1100 watt microwave.  All microwaves are different, so be sure to check your chicken for done-ness.)
3. Place chicken and the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and shred/mix everything together using a mixer.  (You can use a fork, but a mixer is so much easier.)
4. Add in a few spoonfuls of chicken broth or the chicken cooking water so the chicken mixture is nice and juicy, but not dripping when you put it on the tortilla.

I Like My Tex-Mex Spicy, How Should I Spice It Up?

This Skillet Enchilada Recipe IS ON THE MILD SIDE. If you like extra kick, I recommend tossing in a diced up jalapeno, green chili or a teaspoon or 2 of hot sauce in with the enchilada sauce. You could also add a dash or two of Green Chile Habanero Hot Sauce. 

Can I Freeze The Leftovers?

Yes, this recipe freezes well. Store an airtight container or freezer bag. When ready to eat, put container in the fridge to thaw.

Recipe Variations:

• Use green enchilada sauce and white cheddar or Queso fresco.
• Use ground beef or leftover fajita meat instead of chicken.
• Use corn tortillas instead of flour (corn tortillas do hold up better to the sauce, but I prefer the taste of flour – so use whichever you like).
• vegetarian version using, rice, beans, cheese and even mushrooms as the filling

More Simple Tex-Mex Recipes to Try:

• Green Chile Chicken Tacos
• Green Chile Enchilada Soup
• Black Bean Soup Recipe
• Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Chowder
• Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Tex-Mex Breakfast Skillet

 

Other Campfire recipes that you might enjoy:

• 20 Minute White Bean and Chicken Chili
• Barbecue Chicken Skillet Pockets
• Skillet Barbecue Baked Beans
• Grilled Caramel Apples

 

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